# Isaiah 28 đź“–: A Precious Cornerstone in Zion
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> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#🧠Chapter Summary]]
> [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]]
> [[#đź’¬ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#đź”— Related Passages/Cross Reference]]
> [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#đź“‚ Internal Notes]]
## đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
### The Lord Will Judge Ephraim
[[#Verse 01.]] The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards is doomed,
the withering flower, its beautiful splendor,
situated at the head of a rich valley,
the crown of those overcome with wine.
[[#Verse 02.]] Look, the Lord sends a strong, powerful one.
With the force of a hailstorm or a destructive windstorm,
with the might of a driving, torrential rainstorm,
he will knock that crown to the ground with his hand.
[[#Verse 03.]] The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards
will be trampled underfoot.
[[#Verse 04.]]Â The withering flower, its beautiful splendor,
situated at the head of a rich valley,
will be like an early fig before harvest—
as soon as someone notices it,
he grabs it and swallows it.
[[#Verse 05.]] At that time the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will become a beautiful crown
and a splendid diadem for the remnant of his people.
[[#Verse 06.]]Â He will give discernment to the one who makes judicial decisions,
and strength to those who defend the city from attackers.
[[#Verse 07.]] Even these men stagger because of wine;
they stumble around because of beer—
priests and prophets stagger because of beer,
they are confused because of wine,
they stumble around because of beer;
they stagger while seeing prophetic visions,
they totter while making legal decisions.
[[#Verse 08.]]Â Indeed, all the tables
are covered with vomit,
with filth, leaving no clean place.
[[#Verse 09.]] Who is the Lord trying to teach?
To whom is he explaining a message?
To those just weaned from milk!
To those just taken from their mother’s breast!
[[#Verse 10.]]Â Indeed, they will hear meaningless gibberish,
senseless babbling,
a syllable here, a syllable there.
[[#Verse 11.]]Â For with mocking lips and a foreign tongue
he will speak to these people.
[[#Verse 12.]]Â In the past he said to them,
“This is where security can be found.
Provide security for the one who is exhausted.
This is where rest can be found.”
But they refused to listen.
[[#Verse 13.]] So the Lord’s message to them will sound like
meaningless gibberish,
senseless babbling,
a syllable here, a syllable there.
As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk,
and be injured, ensnared, and captured.
### The Lord Will Judge Jerusalem
[[#Verse 14.]] Therefore, listen to the Lord’s message, you who mock, you rulers of these people who reside in Jerusalem.
[[#Verse 15.]] For you say, “We have made a treaty with death, with Sheol we have made an agreement. When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by it will not reach us. For we have made a lie our refuge, we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.”
[[#Verse 16.]] Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord, says “Look, I am laying a stone in Zion, an approved stone, set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. The one who maintains his faith will not panic.
[[#Verse 17.]]Â I will make justice the measuring line,
fairness the plumb line;
hail will sweep away the unreliable refuge,
the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place.
[[#Verse 18.]]Â Your treaty with death will be dissolved;
your agreement with Sheol will not last.
When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by,
you will be overrun by it.
[[#Verse 19.]]Â Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you;
indeed, every morning it will sweep by,
it will come through during the day and the night.”
When this announcement is understood,
it will cause nothing but terror.
[[#Verse 20.]]Â For the bed is too short to stretch out on,
and the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself.
[[#Verse 21.]] For the Lord will rise up, as he did at Mount Perazim;
he will rouse himself, as he did in the Valley of Gibeon,
to accomplish his work,
his peculiar work,
to perform his task,
his strange task.
[[#Verse 22.]]Â So now, do not mock,
or your chains will become heavier!
For I have heard a message about decreed destruction,
from the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies against the entire land.
[[#Verse 23.]]Â Pay attention and listen to my message.
Be attentive and listen to what I have to say!
[[#Verse 24.]]Â Does a farmer just keep on plowing at planting time?
Does he keep breaking up and harrowing his ground?
[[#Verse 25.]]Â Once he has leveled its surface,
does he not scatter the seed of the caraway plant,
sow the seed of the cumin plant,
and plant the wheat, barley, and grain in their designated places?
[[#Verse 26.]]Â His God instructs him;
he teaches him the principles of agriculture.
[[#Verse 27.]] Certainly caraway seed is not threshed with a sledge,
nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin seed.
Certainly caraway seed is beaten with a stick,
and cumin seed with a flail.
[[#Verse 28.]]Â Grain is crushed,
though one certainly does not thresh it forever.
The wheel of one’s wagon rolls over it,
but his horses do not crush it.
[[#Verse 29.]] This also comes from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
who gives supernatural guidance and imparts great wisdom.
## đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 01.
###### Verse 02.
###### Verse 03.
###### Verse 04.
###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
###### Verse 11.
###### Verse 12.
###### Verse 13.
###### Verse 14.
###### Verse 15.
###### Verse 16.
###### Verse 17.
###### Verse 18.
###### Verse 19.
###### Verse 20.
###### Verse 21.
###### Verse 22.
###### Verse 23.
###### Verse 24.
###### Verse 25.
###### Verse 26.
###### Verse 27.
###### Verse 28.
###### Verse 29.
## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, sat on a hill like a crown (28:1). It fell to Assyria in 722 BC.
2. The leaders' mockery in 28:10 is a string of short Hebrew syllables (*tsav la-tsav, qav la-qav*) that sound like baby talk.
3. Paul quotes 28:11-12 about strange lips and foreign tongues in 1 Corinthians 14:21.
4. The covenant with death (28:15) may refer to political alliances, possibly with Egypt, or to pagan rituals for avoiding death.
5. The cornerstone (28:16) is quoted in Romans 9:33, Romans 10:11, and 1 Peter 2:6.
6. The measuring line and plumb line (28:17) are builder's tools used as pictures of God's justice.
7. The bed too short and blanket too narrow (28:20) is a proverb for plans that cannot give real rest.
8. Mount Perazim (28:21) recalls David's victory over the Philistines at Baal-perazim (2 Samuel 5:20).
9. Dill and cumin (28:27) were beaten with a stick, not run over by a heavy threshing sledge.
10. God's strange work (28:21) is judgment against His own people, which seems foreign to His merciful nature.
## 🧠Chapter Summary
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the tested, precious cornerstone God laid in Zion (28:16). Whoever trusts in Him will never be put to shame (Romans 9:33; 1 Peter 2:6).
## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đź’¬ Discussion Questions
1. Ephraim's leaders were proud and drunk, and even priests and prophets staggered (28:1, 7). How does self-indulgence dull spiritual leadership?
2. The leaders mocked Isaiah's message as baby talk (28:9-10). Why do people sometimes resent simple, repeated truth?
3. God's farmer knows exactly how to plant and thresh each crop (28:23-29). What does this teach about the wisdom of God's dealings with us?
## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember
- đź“– verse 5: The Lord Himself will be a beautiful crown for the remnant.
- đź“– verse 16: God lays a tested, precious cornerstone in Zion; whoever believes will not panic.
- đź“– verse 29: The Lord's counsel is wonderful and His wisdom is great.
## đź”— Related Passages/Cross Reference
- đź”— [[1 Peter 02#Verse 04.|1 Peter 2:4-7]] - The living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God.
- đź”— [[Romans 09#Verse 33.|Romans 9:33]] - Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.
- đź”— [[Ephesians 02#Verse 19.|Ephesians 2:19-22]] - Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.
- đź”— [[1 Corinthians 14#Verse 20.|1 Corinthians 14:20-22]] - Strange tongues as a sign.
- đź”— [[Matthew 21#Verse 42.|Matthew 21:42-44]] - The stone the builders rejected.
## 🙏 Devotional Reflection
đź“ť SOAP: [[Isaiah 28 - SOAP|When God is In Charge]]
## đź“‚ Internal Notes